Belt-tightening means.



G. NEALY. BELT TIGHTENING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 21, 1910.

1 47 830 Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

a o 4 e045; Z 1% jaw/2%]? I I UNITED STAT s PAT NT OFFICE.

v GEORGE NEALY, or WEBB CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR F ONE-HALF TO F. o. v

WALLOWER, OEV-WEBBCITY, MISSOURI.

. BELT-TIGHTENING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed December 21, 1910. Serial 110,598,653,

i To all whom, it may concern 'Be it known that I, GEORGE NEALY, acitizen of the United States, residing at W'ebb City, in the county of Jasper and State of and analogous structures, and the primary object of the sameis to provide a simple and effective organization of elements which permits adjustment of pulleys or drums of conveyers for tightening the belts or carriers and for maintaining such pulleys or drums more nearly in true position so that they will run regularly, and wherein also the shafts or. spindles of the pulleys or drums are pre vented from having the wear of the bearing parts directly imposed thereon.

A further object of the invention is to provide the spindles or shafts of conveyer pulleys or drums with removable sleeves which serve alsoas set collars relatively to the bearing means in which the spindles or shafts are adjustably mounted, and jacks with specially formed notches or recesses at their lower ends to engage the sleeves for the purpose of rendering the wear more uniform on the jacks and to remove the Wear directly from the pulley or drum spindles orshafts.

With these and other objects and advantages in view the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts which will be more fully hereinafter specified.

In the drawing? Figure 1 is a side'elevation of a portion of a conveyer and bearing means therefor showing the features of the invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the end of the lower portion of the conveyer partially in section. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the drum at the lower extremity of the conveyer and showing the removable wear sleeves on the shaft or spindle thereof. Y

. The numeral 5 designates'aconveyer belt of any preferred structure whichistr'ained over a lower pulley or drum 6 fast on a'shaft for spindle 7 which is adjustably mounted in a suitable frame means 8 so as to have, vertical movement to take'up slack in or tighten the conveyer belt 5. In the frame means 8, jacks 9 are mounted, guides 10 be ing provided to receive the said jacks. The jacks 9 are preferably formed of hard wood, such asoak, and each has an inverted V- shaped notch or recess 11 in its lower end. On the shaft or spindle 7 of the drum at each extremity is a wear sleeve 12 having an inner circumferential shoulder 13 and held in removable applied position by a set-screw l t-extending through the shoulder 13. Each wear sleeve and its shoulder may be adjusted on the shaft or spindle extremity which it'engages asimay be found desirable PatentedDec. 17, 1912.

and the inner face or side of the circumfer- I ential shoulder 13 is brought to bear against or adjacent to the outer-portion of the bearinglin which the shaft or spindle extremity 1s fitted, and asjthere is a wearsleeve andclrcumferential shoulderon each extremity I of the shaft or'spindle the pulley or drum '6 may thus be maintained in central position within the. bearing means .and prevented from having lateral shifting movement.

The wear sleeves 12 are long enough to fully bear'upon the said wear sleeves a-sshown by Fig. 1. The jacks are driven down in the bearing means to tighten the; belt 5 and are held in their-adjusted position by suitable wedges l5 engaging the upper portions of By slightly loosening and raising the same. the jacks the belt 5 may be slackened if found desirable or fnecessary. In either event, however, the wear sleeves always enonthe jacks is slower than if the shaft ex- 7 tremities directly engaged the jacks, and

furthermore, wear is removed from the shaft I or spindle extremities and imposed wholly l on the removable sleeves with materialadvantage from a standpoint of economy as the sleeves can be replaced by similar def vices at 'a materiallyless cost than would be necessary to renew the shaft or spindle. A still further advantage of the improved structure is that the'pulley or drum 6fcan I more easily be maintained in true running position with obvious advantages in the operation of the belt 5. In ordinary St-IIlC,

tures of this type, grit becomes interposed between the shaft or spindle extremities and the bearing means therefor, or jacks, and as a consequence the bearing means or jacks are soon worn and the pulley or drum runs irregularly, and at the same time the shaft or spindle extremities have grooves formed therein by abrasion and at a considerable expense must be replaced by a new shaft or spindle with true extremities in order to maintain the pulley or drum in regular running condition. The features of the inven tion involving the notched or recessed jacks and the wear sleeves obviate the disadvantages just enumerated, and to make the wear sleeves still more effective it is proposed to chill the wearing ends thereof when they are cast to harden the same and thereby resist wear thereof for a longer period of time.

The improved features cooperating with the shaft or spindle extremities of the pulleys or drums of conveyers, as hereinbefore explained, may be provided at a comparatively small cost, and it is obvious that changes in the proportions and dimensions of the several parts may be adopted to accommodate various applications without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

The combination with a frame and a shaft mounted therein, a pulley thereon, the extremities of the shaft projecting outwardly at opposite sides of the frame, of wear sleeves mounted on the opposite projecting extremities of the shaft and removably fixed to the latter, the said sleeves having integral circumferential shoulders at their inner terminals adjacent to and out of contact with the opposite extremities of the pulley and the hub of the latter, the wear sleeves also serving as set collars to limit the lateral movement of the pulley on the shaft, and upwardly projecting jacks applied to opposite side portions of the frame and having lower notched ends opening fully through the bottom of the latter and fitted over the upper portions of the sleeves outside of the circumferential shoulders, the jacks having their upper ends engaged by adjustable pressure devices also carried by'the frame, the jacks being prevented from having lateral movement relatively to the sleeves and shaft extremities.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE NEALY. WVitnesses F. C. VVALLOWER, HARRY B. HULETT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington; I). G. 

